Business

Muscat: Saudi Aramco, General Electric (GE) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have announced the launch of the first all-female business process service centre in Saudi Arabia.

The centre in Riyadh will be staffed by Saudi females with India-based TCS and United States-based GE owning 76 per cent and 24 per cent equity in the new venture, which will initially serve Saudi Aramco and GE as anchor clients.

The collaboration of the three companies underscores their strong commitment to support Saudi Arabia's localisation strategies to diversify the Kingdom's economy and enable the growth of a viable employment sector.

Three partnersThe new business process services centre will serve as a building block to localise the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Saudi Arabia.

The three partners will work together with the intention of scaling up the new venture to create up to 3,000 jobs for Saudi professional females. General Electric will create up to 1,000 employment opportunities for this initiative.

Abdullatif A. Al Othman, governor of Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority, delivered a keynote speech at the launch ceremony in Dhahran, headquarters of Saudi Aramco. The event was also addressed by Khalid A. Al Falih, president and chief executive of Saudi Aramco; Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and chief executive of GE; Cyrus Mistry, chairman of the Tata Group, and N. Chandrasekaran, chief executive and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services.

The centre brings a unique business model to Saudi Arabia, and is set to become a rich training ground for building new capabilities, skills and careers for Saudi females. It will be employing skilled graduates in the areas of finance, accounting, human resources management and supply chain management services.

In highlighting Saudi Aramco's strategic intent, Khalid A. Al Falih, president and chief executive of Saudi Aramco said: "We are helping to build the nation's capacity as it move towards a knowledge economy by maximising local content, adding value through integrated industrial parks, and promoting economic diversification and entrepreneurship.

In light of the demographic realities, this comprehensive framework offers a winning formula to create jobs."